The ripple effects have also reached Silicon Valleyâs local restaurant industry, writes Nicole Perlroth, who delved into the once-bustling restaurant scene in Palo Alto, Calif.

There, she found that with tech companies luring away chefs and restaurant workers as well as more start-ups pushing up local rents, many restaurants could no longer keep afloat. More than 70,000 square feet of Palo Alto restaurant and retail space was lost to offices from 2008 to 2015, she writes.

The changes donât mean people will starve, but the character of Silicon Valley is transforming. Whatâs left are often national restaurant chains, well-heeled restaurants funded by venture capitalists and fewer of the mom-and-pop operations that once gave Silicon Valley towns like Palo Alto a distinct local flavor.